When I first encountered INPM’s website (www.meaning.ca), I was enthralled by the expansive depth of material offered. I was captivated by the inclusion of Dr. Wong’s own deep spirituality and faith. Paul has been a mentor of sorts for me over the years. I was avidly attracted to his Meaning-Centered Therapy model that incorporates suffering and resilience as critical components to finding the possibilities and potential to flourish as a human being.
From my own experience of suffering from a lifetime rooted in childhood trauma, enduring decades of difficulties in my adult years, the healing that occurred resulted from my realization that there is meaning in suffering, and from adversity there is hope. As one who has obtained a deep faith, I was encountered by a living God. His influential love transformed me from a shattered woman to one who is now whole, complete, and integrated.
I have served as a non-credentialed lay minister, a leader, trainer, instructor, facilitator, and lifelong volunteer community advocate. My involvement has exposed the deep suffering and trauma that is occurring from the disenfranchisement of the family unit, violence accepted as the norm, racial divide, inequality, oppression, and systems that fail in any comprehensive way to address the growing pandemic of chaos happening in today’s culture that is adversely affecting individuals, families, and communities.
My first book, Hope Rises from a Shattered Innocence, will be released sometime in 2021. The book covers my healing journey and provides tools, practices, and exercises that can benefit anyone who has experienced developmental and other types of trauma. Decades of personal suffering, years of failed therapeutic interventions, and my journey inspire hope that no person is so far gone that the healing love of God cannot transform.
My motto is that it is OK to not be OK, and it is OK to be right where you are in life. It is only when you, I, and we, as a people, can acknowledge, accept, and allow dark/light emotions that we discover what it means to be an authentic human being.
Perhaps the new research to embark upon envisions a therapeutic intervention model that includes spirituality, faith, and God’s love as active, authentic, and valid healing sources within a Meaning-Centered Therapy framework.
Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY